High School Never Ends
by Just Another Fanatic
Summary: Sequel to Cupid.  School has started up again and Bayville is still Mutant capital of the world.  Now, instead of finding huge battles around every corners, th Xmen are findin regular teenage problems, such as finding a date to the dance.
1. Detention and a Broken Nose

**This is the first chapter of my second installment in this series. I hope you enjoy it. **

* * *

Detention and a Broken Nose

A tall blonde boy knocked on a door and waited for a moment. There was nothing on the other side. He slowly twisted the doorknob and peered in. The posters and pictures that had been put up by a brunette girl two months or so earlier were still on the wall, with the addition of a new poster of a movie she liked. He smiled, knowing that if the girl had put up a new poster, she probably wasn't leaving the next day.

"Sam?" a voice asked behind him. He turned around to face the girl, still smiling.

"You're staying?" he asked.

She smirked. "I figure I might as well. I mean, seeing as how I still have all these powers, even though it would seem that only one is an actual mutant power. I'm still surprised that the Professor didn't recognize that most of my power isn't actually mutant."

Sam Guthrie smiled at the girl. Her name was Arwen Westbrook, and she recently learned that she was not all human, but she was the daughter to the Greek god Apollo, which her mother happened to have never mentioned to her. Arwen's powers all centered on her ability to manipulate anything, energy or matter, with the assistance of music, which was the result of her true father having been the god of music and her blessings from the nine Muses when she was an infant. The one exception to this was her superb hearing, able to detect the slightest sound better than any creature known to live.

Sam approached her and brushed her long brown bangs from her sparkling brown eyes. Since learning that she was, in fact, part god, she had embraced her powers in a new way. Sam couldn't help but find himself almost in love with her beauty. He really wanted to sweep the girl into his arms, but also feared her reaction.

"Can you let me into my room now?" she asked as he just continued to stare. Arwen knew that if Sam had tried to kiss her, she would not have denied him, but she had grown uncomfortable with him just staring at her.

"Oh, uh, yeah," he said stepping aside. She smiled at him and entered her room, slowly closing the door behind her.

"Crash and burn," the voice of Sam's best friend, Bobby Drake came from just down the hall. "That went wonderfully, Sam. Fantastic!" Bobby, of course, was being sarcastic. The brunette boy approached his tall blonde friend. "So, is she staying?"

"Yeah," Sam nodded. "It's a huge relief, too."

"Glad I don't have that to worry about," Bobby smiled. "You see, when I let a girl know I like her, there's no chance of her leaving. With you, the knowledge might just scare her away."

"Shut up, Bobby." Sam rolled his eyes and pushed his friend out of the way.

Arwen sighed as she heard Sam talk on the other side of her door. She, too, was relieved that she had decided to stay. After the events that had just passed and how she had been involved in saving the mutant race from the control of the evil Magneto, she had almost returned home to make peace with the human she had called Dad for her whole life, but in the end, a different side of her heart had won out. Her best friend, Rose Trelin was at the Institute. Another of her best friends, Duke Trelin, Rose's younger brother, was staying in the town and would be attending her school. And, she would no longer have the reputation of the girl whose flute audition was so horrible it put the band director into emergency room (it had actually been the first indications she had any powers). However, the last thing that kept her in Bayville was the slightly gangly, yet fairly good-looking blonde mutant outside her door. Arwen didn't know what her feelings toward Sam Guthrie were, exactly, but she wasn't going to say love because she had only known him for just over a week.

* * *

Kitty Pryde and her roommate, Rogue, stood in an aisle at the movie store trying to decide which movie they could both appreciate. Kitty wanted to see a teenie bopper while Rogue wanted a dark horror or thriller. 

"Look, we have school tomorrow," Rogue said. "So, if we're gonna watch a movie, we had better choose soon."

"Rock, paper, scissors to see who chooses?" Kitty asked.

"You're on, Kitty," Rouge said smiling. Kitty always threw scissors first.

After a round, Rogue won, seeing as Kitty had indeed thrown scissors and Rogue stuck with rock. "Rock beats scissors," Rogue smiled and grabbed _Constantine_ from the shelf. "Now, let's check out."

Kitty sighed and followed. "I get to choose next time," she claimed as they arrived at the desk.

"Whateva," Rogue said. "Spot me a buck, will ya?"

* * *

A young girl stared out at the water of the Mediterranean Sea from a dock in Tel Aviv. She had long dark blond hair with long dark brown bangs. Her hair was parted over her left eye, causing her bangs to cover her right eye. The hair not part of her bangs on the right half of her hair was braided, while the left half of her hair remained down and straight. Her blue left eye searched for any sign of her father's boat while her green right eye stayed hidden from the world. A pair of oversized sunglasses sat on top of her head. She had on a tight black shirt with a faded face and gold shapes. Around her waist was a loose black belt with a gold buckle. Her jeans were tight and flared out below her knees with random added patches, and she had different colored gym shoes, one lime green and the other dark pink, but the same brand and make. Like her shoes, her earrings didn't match, one being a large golden loop with green stones and the other a dark silver rod that spiraled downward with pink stud at the top and a matching rose at the bottom. She had a thick, loose ID bracelet on her left wrist and a handmade wooden bracelet on her right wrist. Around her left upper arm was a golden bracelet that circled her arm several times and was made to look like a snake, while she had a matching black tattoo on her right upper arm. She had two necklaces on; one was a black choker that was made by use of a satin ribbon and the other was a golden chain with a Hamsa and Chai. On her left middle finger was a golden ring with a pink stone.

"Mari," a female voice called from behind her. " Will you come away from there before you fall in. "

The girl turned and looked at her mother. " I'm waiting for the sea to return my father, " she said in a raspy voice.

" You can't control the waters, Mari, " her mother said.

Mari turned back to the waters and said quietly, " You and I are very different. " With that a great wave approached the shores of Tel Aviv. Not a single drop of water touched Mari, but her mother was swept away, the recently sunken boat of her father left in her mother's place. There was no sign of him, despite the rest of his crew still on the small boat, dead. "Where are you, Dad?" Another wave returned her mother to the dock. She didn't want to cause the death of her mother.

* * *

"I always hate the first day of school," Bobby said as he pulled on his clothes. "I say we just don't go."

"That's not going to fly with the professor," Sam reminded him. "Plus, I'm ready. I might as well go."

Sam made his way down the stairs and to the kitchen where the before school breakfast scramble was worse than ever. He wove his way through the crowd to the cabinet and grabbed himself a bowl, then inched to the next cabinet where the cereal was. After ten minutes, he finally had himself a bowl of Cheerios. He was about to start eating when his younger sister Paige walked in wearing a pair of short shorts and a spaghetti strap cropped top.

"You are _not_ wearing that, Paige," he said immediately. "You're fourteen and this is school."

"Sam!" Paige snapped. "I look fine! I took a lot of time picking out this outfit."

"Well go spend a few more minutes picking out something different," he instructed his sister. She wrinkled her nose and placed her hands on her hips before turning and walking out.

A few minutes later, as the kitchen cleared out a little, Bobby entered with Arwen and her roommate, Rose Trelin. Rose had thrown her reddy-brown hair into a high ponytail as usual and was in a loose tee shirt and jeans. Arwen, in contrast to her best friend, left her hair down in loose curls and wore a slimming white sundress that went down to her knees and was tied in the back.

"Your sister is pissed at you," Bobby said as he took a seat next to Sam. "Said something about castrating you as soon as she could. You don't hear a single word I'm saying, do you? Stop staring or at least close your mouth while you do so."

"What?" Sam asked when Arwen disappeared behind the refrigerator door for a moment.

"Dude, get a life," Bobby said. "Or, just ask her out."

"Who's asking who out?" Arwen asked leaning back so she could look at Bobby.

"Ask Sam," Bobby said before taking a bite out of his Pop Tart.

Arwen lifted her eyebrows and turned to Sam. "Bobby's just being a dick," Sam said after a moment. "It's nothing new."

"Satisfactory, Sam?" Paige asked bitterly walking into the room a second time. She had grabbed a zip-up hoodie and changed into longer shorts.

"Sure," Sam said not even looking at his sister.

Paige wrinkled her nose. "If I had known he wasn't even going to look, I wouldn't have changed."

"Ride one is on its way out," X-Men leader, Scott Summers yelled through the house. "If you plan on getting a ride with me, now is the time to get to the front landing."

Immediately, Kurt Wagner and Rogue raced down the stairs. After another few seconds, Hector Mendoza and Megan Gwynn made their way to the front landing. "I swear Paige wants tae come with us," Megan said. "She'll be here soon."

"I'm here," Paige called running into the room from the direction of the kitchen. She held an energy bar as her breakfast.

"Okay, then." Scott said. "The car's in the driveway already."

"How wonderful," Rogue said rolling her eyes. "We git ta ride with all the freshman, Kurt."

"Gee, zis von't look good at all," Kurt replied. "Maybe I can teleport us to ze back when we approach."

"Ya know, that plan ain't half bad, Elf," Rogue said. "Ah'll tell ya when ta port."

* * *

"Uh, where the heck is Tel Aviv?" Pietro Maximoff asked the general population of the crowded Brotherhood kitchen.

"Israel," Duke Trelin said with a smirk. "Why? Don't tell me you're already failing geography, Pietro. School hasn't even begun yet."

"Very funny, Romeo," Pietro said. "No, I have to go recruit a mutant there."

"May I make a suggestion?" the beautiful seductress, Tip, asked.

"Sure thing, beautiful," Pietro said with a smile.

"Don't just abduct her," Tip said. "Actually convince her to join. It'll be easier than bringing her here, then asking her to join. I speak from experience."

"Does this mean he's not coming to school with us?" Nick Arnold asked as soon as Pietro zipped away.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Duke said. "Would you like a reward for that, or is the fact that you made a correct deduction prize enough for you."

"Shut up, Dick," Nick snapped. "At least my power is useful."

"And at least I won't ever fall in love with a chair," Duke said with a smirk.

"I'm not in love with a chair," Nick said confused.

"Is that so?" Duke asked. His hazel eyes glowed briefly, and suddenly, Nick turned around in his chair and began kissing the backrest of it.

"Please tell me you're going to do that to the X-Men," Tip begged as she controlled her laughter.

"If they piss me off enough I will," Duke said.

* * *

"I hope you have a ride to school, Guthrie," Rebecca Stein said walking into the kitchen. "Because Ms. Munroe just took off and my car is already full."

"Shit," Sam swore and jumped from his seat. "Are you sure?"

"Me, Kitty, Arwen, Rose, and Bobby," Rebecca said ticking off the people on her fingers. "That's the five I can legally hold."

"Wait, you're giving Bobby a ride?" Sam yelled.

"Uh," Rebecca pretended to be thinking for a moment, the in a harsh tone, answered, "Yes."

"I suggest you start running," Bobby said. "It's not exactly a short trip."

* * *

"I'd like to welcome all new students to the halls of Bayville High," Principal Kelly announced during the morning assembly. "And, may I assure you that you that you have no need to worry about renegade mutants here. Any mutant using their powers here will be automatically suspended, with the likelihood of expulsion."

Whispers began running through the stands.

"He can't do that, can he?"

"Finally, time to kick some mutant ass."

"That's kinda harsh, don'cha think?"

"I wonder if goddess powers would get the same punishment."

"I wouldn't risk it," Bobby whispered into Arwen's ear. "Kelly's a hard ass. Seriously, just pretend you're normal."

As the assembly ended, everyone headed off to his or her homeroom. Arwen sat down and sighed. She didn't particularly like school, but it was nice to have a fresh start. She had earned a number of bad reputations in Palatine, none of which could possibly follow her to Bayville because neither Rose nor Duke would dare bring them up in public unless they wanted to be lynched.

"You must be new here," one boy said taking a seat next to her, "because I'm sure I would remember a face as pretty as yours."

Arwen sighed. She definitely wasn't interested. "I'm sorry, but I can guarantee that you don't want to get tangled up with me."

"And how's that?" the boy asked.

"Let's just say that my dad is a very powerful man," Arwen said. "He doesn't take too kindly to me dating without his knowledge."

"I'm sure that you could sneak out for me," the boy leaned closer.

"You know that big mansion with the gates and security systems that could kill the Terminator?" Arwen asked.

"The Xavier Institute?" the boy growled. "Unfortunately."

"I live there," Arwen said. As assumed, the boy snapped away and took a whole new seat before the bell rang. Arwen thought she'd be alone in the back row when the seat next her was suddenly occupied by another boy. Arwen sighed. Another boy to scare off.

"Long time no see," Arwen recognized the voice immediately.

"Duke?" Arwen looked at him. "What luck that you'd be the only one in my class," she said with a bitter tone.

"Ouch," Duke mocked pain. "You're sarcasm hurts me on the inside."

"Well, your betrayal of Rose and me hurt me a little harder," Arwen replied. "Or had you forgotten that you helped Magneto try to take complete control of the mutant civilization?"

"You know, I feel like I was betrayed by you," Duke said. "Or did you forget that you shot an arrow into my heart."

"It wasn't a real arrow," Arwen said. She smiled. "Plus, you made me fall head over heels for one of the boys at the Institute first, remember? What do you think came of that?"

"Knowing you, you probably hid from him the whole time," Duke said.

"Wrong," Arwen said. "I was feeling impulsive at the time. A lot happened. Good thing the Professor returned me to my normal state on time or who knows what would have happened."

"Meaning…?" Duke asked slowly.

"Lets just say that if we had taken the time to close the door to his room, condoms would have been needed," Arwen said. "You could have been responsible for me losing my virginity. How would that have made you feel?"

"Pretty much like a total dunce," Duke said. "If I had known that you were feeling that impulsive, I would have given you eyes for only me and had Scarlet Witch take care of him."

Arwen scrunched up her nose and lightly back-handed him. "As it turns out, I already liked him a little," Arwen said.

"Excuse me, you two in back," the teacher snapped grabbing the attention of the two. "Would one of you be Jamison Trelin?"

"Here," Duke said, a slight blush creeping up his cheeks as the rest of the class began to laugh. "That was embarrassing," he said to Arwen once the teacher continued with attendance.

Arwen ignored him, only speaking when the teacher called her during attendance.

* * *

Five minutes after the end of the assembly, the halls were cleared of students. Principal Kelly sighed at the sight and began toward his office, until he heard one of the doors close quietly and the padding of feet. He turned to see one of Xavier's freak students running down the hall toward his class.

"Excuse me, young man," Principal Kelly called out to the boy. "You're late."

"I realize that," the blonde boy said. "I was seeing my younger brother to his first day at his school and didn't realize how far apart the two schools were." Kelly knew the boy was lying.

"What is your name?"

"Sam Guthrie," the boy said reluctantly.

"Well, Mr. Guthrie, congratulations on being the first student to get a detention this year."

Sam silently groaned as he followed Principal Kelly to the front office. He knew that if he wasn't a mutant that he'd only get a warning from the man. "I suppose it's only fair that I tell you the policy on mutant activity. Use your power, and it will be an automatic week's suspension with high probability of expulsion."

* * *

"It's awesome that you want to be an X-Man, Alex," Scott greeted his brother as he walked into the Institute. After the island, several of younger friends of the X-Men had decided that it was time to forget living normally and start embracing their power. Alex Summers had been one of them. Danielle Moonstar and X-23, now going by the name Laura, were also moving into the Institute.

"Awesome to be given the chance," Alex said, his surfer's accent evident in his voice. "And it's finally giving me time to really get to know my big bro."

"And you're just in time to suit up and head to the Danger Room for a session with Laura and Evan," Logan said pulling his mask on over his head. "I'll see you both in five."

* * *

"I wonder who those guys are," an eighth grade tough guy said to his posse.

"I think that one of them goes to that mutant freak school," another kid said. "The really scrawny one."

"Well," the first kid said again, "maybe we ought to get him kicked out, huh?"

"Sounds good, Jackson," his crowd responded positively.

"Hey, this is a mutant free zone," Jackson said stepping in front of Jamie Maddrox as he split away from Jay Guthire and Theresa Cassidy. Theresa was the girl they had gotten a ride to school with. She had long red hair and had only moved to Bayville a year earlier when her mother believed that she was gaining powers similar to her father's.

"So what are you looking at me for?" Jamie asked taking a step backwards.

"We know you're one of them," Jackson said. He stepped to push Jamie, but Jay had heard the exchange and, knowing Jamie's powers, took the shove instead.

"I don't know who you are, but I'm warning you," Jay said. "I don't want to make enemies on the first day of school, so keep your hands to yourself."

Jackson and his crew began laughing. A new kid was threatening him and his whole crew. Not just that, but the kid was defending a mutant.

"Jus' leave 'im alone, Jackson," Theresa snapped having heard the commotion. "Got notin' betta' ta do wit' your time, eh?"

"Mind your own business, you little leprechaun," a black-haired kid from Jackson's crew said advancing on her and pushing her against the wall.

"Hey," Jay yelled at the boy and pushed him away from Theresa. "What are you, huh? Big tough guy, gotta push around a girl."

"Who the hell do you think you are?" the boy asked and pushed back. He became so riled up that he punched Jay square on the nose. A crunching sound was heard and Jay stumbled backwards, hitting his head on the wall.

"Dear lord," Theresa gasped as she and Jamie both kneeled beside Jay to see if he was all right. "Dat sounded real bad." Jackson and his crew laughed and made their way down the hall, high-fiving the black-haired kid.

"Jay, take your hands off your nose," Jamie instructed.

Jay shook his head a little. "It's broken, but it'll be better by the time the bell rings. I just need to…" Jay pushed on one side of his nose and a small cracking could be heard. Theresa cringed at the sound. "There, at least it can heal now."

"Are ye sure?" Theresa asked. "Dat sounded pretty nasty."

"And, believe me," Jay said pushing himself off the ground. "It hurt a hell of a lot more than it sounded." He opened his bag and pulled out a small Kleenex pack. He began wiping the blood off.

"Le' me help ye," Theresa said gently taking the Kleenex from his hand and wiping the blood he kept missing off.

"We'd better get moving if we're all going to get to class on time," Jay said after a moment where his cheeks flushed red.

"Uh, yeah," Jamie nodded. "I just hope none of them are in my class."

"Ye only need be afraid of Jackson and Ricky," Theresa said. "De rest o' dem jus' hang wit' 'im fer protection."

"So they're all just wimps?" Jay asked. "That's good. Means I could probably take them on."

"I don' tink dat'd be a good idea," Theresa said. "Ye'd get in trouble, an' it wouldn' even be 'cause of what ye are."

"About that," Jamie said. "It doesn't disturb you?"

"Me da is one too," Theresa said, "no matta' how much he tried to hide it."

"Welcome to the club," Jay said. "Believe me, hiding some mutations are no easy tasks." He rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the pain in his hidden wings.

* * *

**Please review. I can't improve if you don't review.**


	2. Notes on Getting a Date

**Chapter two. A lot of the focus of this story will be on Sam and his relationships with both Arwen and his siblings. Remember, reviews are always welcome and help me to write faster, thus post faster.**

* * *

Notes on Getting a Date

Sam kept his eyes on the clock. Detention let out at four forty-five. It was four forty. He'd spent the first hour doing the little bit of homework that teachers had assigned the first day. Then he spent half an hour just drawing in a notebook. Now, he just wanted the teacher watching him and seven other punks to release them. He wasn't surprised by any of the others in detention, as they were the kind that just threw paper airplanes and spitballs the whole time.

The only other mutant that had made it into detention was Nick Arnold, from the Brotherhood. Nick had been specifically annoying, actually throwing at least three paper airplanes into Sam's head with an uncountable number more missing his head by inches.

"You can leave, Mr. Guthrie," the teacher said when a fourth airplane hit Sam's head and he just grabbed it and crumbled it up. "On good behavior. As for you, Mr. Arnold…"

Sam was out the door in seconds, throwing away all the paper airplanes that had hit him as he walked out. When he walked out, Scott was pulling to the curb.

"How'd you know?" Sam asked as he climbed in.

"Word spreads when you're in the mansion," Scott said. "And the Professor always knows. He'd like to have a word with you."

"You six may leave," the teacher motioned to the six trouble-makers aside from Nick, who was now writing lines on the board. As soon as the six had scrambled out the door, yelping and hollering, the teacher turned to Nick and closed and locked the door. "Nicholas Arnold," the teacher crossed his arms. "I'm impressed that you could go through a whole school day without using your powers, Nuclear."

"What?" Nick spun around, only to be faced with Mystique. "Oh, Mystique… where've you been hiding?"

"You joined the Hellions?" Mystique asked tapping a foot.

"Well, you know how it goes," Nick shrugged. "We need food. You were gone, and Magneto's out of the picture…"

"As long as you're living in my house, you will be living by my rules," Mystique said. "But, as long as Ms. Frost believes me to be dead… you will be my spy. I want to know every move she makes."

"How will I tell you?" Nick asked.

"I have a feeling you'll be in detention a lot, Nuclear," Mystique said turning back into the smiling teacher. "You'll report to me then."

"Oh, uh, Pietro went to collect a girl in Tel Aviv this morning," Nick said before Mystique could open the door. "That's it so far."

Mystique nodded. "Good boy, Nick. You may leave now."

"We're trying to show the world that we want to be the best citizens we can be," Professor Xavier said to Sam as they talked in his office. "Now, I realize that you missed your ride and that Principal Kelly has a prejudice against mutants, so I'll let this incident pass. But please, don't let it happen again."

"I won't, Professor," Sam said looking at the floor.

"Okay, now that we've covered that, I would like you to talk to your brother about an incident in his school today," the Professor said.

Sam's shoulders dropped. "What's this?"

"It would seem that your brother got into a fight before the bells rang," Professor Xavier said. "He's refusing to listen to Logan or me, but I believe that he will listen to what you have to say as you are his older brother."

Sam nodded. "I'll talk to him, Professor."

"Thank you."

Sam finally found his brother in the Danger Room with Logan. It wasn't a simulation, just a training session in hand-to-hand combat, in which Jay wasn't getting the usual slack he got. No, Logan was making a point to make sure that he gave Jay a little beating.

"Logan," Sam began, walking into the room. "Can I borrow my brother?"

Logan grunted and pointed a claw at Jay. "We're not finished yet, Flapper." He then walked out.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Sam asked Jay when the door closed.

"Nothing I'm going to share with you," Jay said with a frown. "Why do you even care? You got detention. At least I didn't draw attention of the teachers."

"I got detention for being late and getting caught by the principal," Sam said. "You got in a fight, on your first day. Who does that? And you won't talk to anyone?"

"Why should I?" Jay asked.

"So we can help," Sam said placing a hand on Jay's shoulder. "At least tell me what happened."

Jay made a face for a moment, then sighed. "Some jerks went after Jamie, and this girl, Theresa, and I were just defending him. One kid pushed Theresa into a wall, and so I pushed him back and then he punched me. End of story."

"Is that really all?" Sam asked. "You didn't taunt him or anything?"

"I might have called him a 'big tough guy that has to push around a girl'…" Jay said slowly. "He deserved getting lynched or something. He's an asshole."

"It's not your job to be the police," Sam said. "You could have just walked right by it with Jamie."

"If they had pushed Jamie, there would have been about ten of him sprawled on the ground," Jay said.

"Will you at least talk to Professor about what happened?" Sam asked. "And then keep out of trouble?"

Jay nodded. "At least it'll get me out of this training with Logan. That guy is cruel. I don't remember you telling Paige, Mom, or me about him."

"Yeah, well, I thought the mere mention of him would make you guys not want to come and have Mom keep me at home," Sam said.

* * *

"What kind of loser gets detention on the first day of school?" Pietro asked as Nick walked into the Brotherhood house after his long walk home. 

"Hey, I'm Brother – I mean, Hellion," Nick defended. "What can you expect? And at least it wasn't for something stupid like that X-Freak."

"First off," Pietro said, "it's X-Geek, and second… wait, an X-Geek in detention on the first day of school? For what?"

"Being late," Tip said entering the room. "Kid walked into homeroom with, like, one minute left. And his shoes were caked with mud. God, don't them Kentuckians know how to take care of their shoes?"

"Kentucky, eh?" Pietro asked. "I know who that has to be. That's gotta be the lover of the little old Muse. You know who I'm talking about, right Wanda? That girl who beat up our oh so loving father."

Wanda Maximoff's eyes grew slightly dark. "He deserved to be stopped, but not to be hurt and beat up like that."

"Want to pay a little visit to the mall?" Tip asked. "I know for a fact that the Rebecca girl is going and I'm pretty sure she's taking the other three Chicagoland girls too."

"Let's go!" Wanda growled and began out the door.

"Alright!" Nick celebrated.

"Not so fast," Pietro put a hand on Nick's shoulder. "We're giving a test run to our newest member, which means there won't be room in the car for you."

"What!" Nick yelled.

"Oh, Mari," Pietro called. A moment later, Mari came down the stairs. "Want to meet the trainees of the team that abducted your father?"

"Gladly," Mari said with a cruel smile.

"Follow Tip to the car," Pietro said pointing through the open door. As soon as Mari was through, Pietro turned to follow.

"Did they really abduct her father, yo?" Todd Tolensky asked.

"No," Pietro said. "But I needed to tell her something to recruit her."

"Dude, you can just run there," Nick complained. "I mean, you ain't even driving or anything."

"Yeah, but I'd like to be in the seat next to Tip," Pietro said with a smile.

"Jerk," Nick growled as Pietro and Todd went out to the car with Wanda. Nick turned around and found Fred cooking in the kitchen and Duke reading a book. "The rest of them are off to fight your girlfriend and sister at the mall," Nick snapped taking a seat.

"Pissed cause they won't take you with?" Duke asked. "Damn, we need another car, considering that the district is letting Todd, Pietro, and this guy back in school. And whoever's idea it was to tell Wanda she could come in too was smoking something strong."

"Maybe we could ask Miss Frost for another car," Fred said.

"Not a bad idea," the voice of Emma said as she walked into the kitchen after having let herself into the house. "Which is why I'd like you boys to see your new present. Sorry it doesn't sit as many as that Honda you own."

"Oh, dude, this is awesome," Nick said running a hand along the side of a dark red viper. "I so totally call dibs on the keys."

"I don't think so," Emma said. "This is for your newest member. But if you'd like to meet them at the mall, I'm willing to let the Duke drive."

Duke caught the keys Emma threw at him. "You do realize I only have a permit, right?"

"I trust you more than I would any licensed driver from this house that isn't already in charge of a vehicle already," Emma said.

"So, you two up to a trip to the mall?" Duke asked jumping into the driver's seat.

"Awesome," Nick said, jumping in. Fred climbed in, taking up the whole back seat.

* * *

Kitty, Rebecca, Rose, and Arwen were all looking at the clothes in American Eagle. Rebecca was having a field day, throwing more shirts over her arm than Kitty even had in her wardrobe. "Don't you all just _lurve_ shopping?" Rebecca asked, throwing another shirt over her arm. She looked around and found an attendant. "Can I get a dressing room started please?" 

"Sure," the girl responded.

"Green really is your color," Rebecca heard a familiar voice as she exited the dressing room in one of her outfits.

"Pheromones," Rebecca snapped, spinning to face the blonde. "What are you doing here?"

"Last I checked, I worked next door," Tip said. "I was simply dropping in before work. Is that illegal?"

"I suppose not," Rebecca said with her teeth clenched.

"Oh, but you might want to go help your friends in the food court," Tip said briefly. "And, believe me, you need a new pair of sneakers for those jeans if you're going to wear that ancient belt."

Rebecca's mouth dropped open, until she registered what Tip had told her a moment earlier. She jumped back into her changing room and quickly changed back into her own clothes before running out of the store, not stopping to make a purchase. Sure enough, there was a commotion down at the food court.

"Scott," Rebecca said as soon as he picked up at the mansion after she dialed. "You might want to come to the mall, and bring Logan with you. And, well, as many as can fit into the X-Van."

"What's happening, Rebecca?" Scott asked.

"Absolutely nothing," Quicksilver said into the phone as he snatched it from Rebecca's hands. He quickly snapped it shut, cutting off Scott's voice.

"Give me that back!" Rebecca yelled jumping at his hands, but he held it out of her reach. She growled something about being short, causing Pietro to laugh, a deadly mistake. As soon as his eyes closed, Rebecca kicked him hard in the shin.

"Ow!" Pietro yelled pulling his shin up to his chest to cradle it. Rebecca snatched her phone from his hands and placed it back into her purse, before turning to the food court.

"Hello, Lady Luck," Toad said blocking Rebecca from the food court when she tried to get in.

"Move it, Toad boy, before you find your six foot long tongue tied to a flagpole," Rebecca snapped.

Before Toad could respond, he was knocked out of Rebecca's way. Unfortunately, Kitty was what hit him to the ground. "Ow…" Kitty moaned pushing herself back to the standing position. Toad tried to hit her with his tongue for landing on him, but Rebecca pushed Kitty out of the way so that Toad's tongue hit the rail past the girls. Rebecca pinned it there with her foot.

"Be glad I'm not wearing heels today, Frogger," Rebecca said before letting him go and turning to Kitty. "Why didn't you phase through him?"

Kitty pointed to where Arwen was hiding under a table and Wanda was hexing ketchup and mustard bottles from the hotdog place. "Wanda messes with everyone's powers."

On the other side of the food court, Rose was soaked and having trouble dodging the moves of a different girl with a braid in half her blonde hair and a rather bright style of clothes. She definitely fought like a military chick.

When Rose was kicked to the ground, Rebecca was about to jump in, but a red beam hit the girl from behind, sending her across the food court. Logan ran in and helped Rose to stand. Storm confronted Wanda and the Professor wheeled in and began communicating with the witch with his mind. After a moment, Wanda turned and walked out of the mall completely, calling for Pietro, Todd, and the other girl.

"Where are you going?" Nick asked meeting them at the entrance with Fred. "We just got here!"

"It's over," Wanda said simply and walked to the Honda.

"How did you two get here?" Pietro asked.

"Duke drove the new car Miss Frost gave us," Fred said.

Duke slowly walked up from the parking lot. He tossed the keys to Mari. "Gift from our sponsor," he said. "Time to go already?"

"Yeah," Pietro said. "Where's the new car?"

"Pietro, hurry up!" Wanda yelled from the Honda.

"Coming," Pietro yelled jumping into the driver's seat, Fred and Todd climbing in back. Duke and an annoyed Nick showed Mari her new viper as the Honda disappeared.

* * *

"Okay, time to get out from behind that table, Arwen," Logan said approaching Arwen's hiding space. Slowly, Arwen stood up from behind the overturned table. Even Logan had a good laugh looking at her covered in ketchup, mustard, and radish, with two pickles on her head. Rebecca pulled out her digital camera and took a picture. 

"Not funny, Rebecca," Arwen said in a flat voice.

"Do you mind taking her back in the van?" Rebecca asked. "My car is still grasping that new car smell, but it will all be gone if she steps in it. And something tells me she really wants to leave soon, and I'm not quite ready yet."

"How supportive," Kitty said with a glare. "I'm ready to leave too."

"Don't forget me," Rose said ringing out her hair.

* * *

Sam, Bobby, and Roberto were all watching the television when they spotted the X-Van pulling up to the front hall. Bobby smirked and elbowed Sam. "You know, if she's in there, now would be a really good time for you to ask her to that dance," Bobby said. 

"I know," Sam said. He waited a moment, then stood up and walked to the front room where he had heard a few people enter. However, when he saw Arwen, he had to cover his mouth to not burst out laughing and then leaned against a wall for support.

"What happened to you?" Roberto asked checking out what had caused Sam to practically fall over.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said through gritted teeth.

"You do realize that the condiments are supposed to go on the food, right?" Bobby asked.

"Do you want me to hug you right now, Bobby?" Arwen growled. "Because I will."

"Just get up to your shower," Rose said pushing Arwen with her fingertips. As soon as Arwen was gone, Rose asked. "Does anyone have a napkin?"

"So, where's Rebecca?" Bobby asked.

"Shopping," Kitty replied. "She didn't have any time to make a purchase before we left."

* * *

"What's got an X-Man like you doing in a shop like this?" Tip asked when Rebecca walked into the Steve Madden store. 

"My belt isn't ancient," Rebecca said. "It's called vintage."

"And you like it," Tip said with a smirk. "Must be that Midwestern thing."

"You said that I needed different sneakers?" Rebecca questioned.

"Oh, yeah," Tip said. She looked around to make sure none of her bosses were around. "But you won't find them here. I'm working all night, but I have tomorrow off, if you'd like me to show you what you need."

Rebecca smirked. "I'll meet you in the food court at four, okay?"

"Sounds plenty good to me," Tip said.

"Wow, Rebecca, it only took you half an hour to realize that shopping alone is no fun," Kitty said slightly bitterly when Rebecca walked into the living room.

"Sorry," Rebecca said looking down slightly. "I just, you know I can't go to a mall without either buying something or getting with someone."

"Ever think that maybe you shouldn't make shopping a top priority?" Kitty asked. "It's really not that hard."

* * *

"Hey, Scott, when are you leaving?" Kitty asked the next morning as she quickly swallowed down her breakfast. 

"In about two minutes, why?"

"I'm catching a ride with you," she said. "So are Rose and Arwen."

"Who's riding with Rebecca?" he asked.

"The freshman," Kitty said. "We already told them, don't worry."

"Did you tell Rebecca?"

"Minor details," Kitty said brushing it off.

"Where are Kitty, Rose, and Arwen?" Rebecca asked walking into the kitchen to see Megan, Hector, Paige, and Laura.

"They went to school already," Paige said. "Oh, Scott says you need to take us since your usual passengers took our places."

Rebecca sighed. "Great," she mumbled and grabbed a breakfast bar, quickly checking the package to make sure it was Kosher. "Hurry up, I'm leaving as soon as I grab my bag."

* * *

"I think you look better in red and yellow," the voice of Toad said when Rose and Arwen were walking down the hall. They both turned around to see Todd, Pietro, Fred, and Nick all standing in a row with their arms crossed. 

"Just ignore them," Rose said placing her hand on Arwen's shoulder. "What are they going to do? If they use their powers, they'll totally ruin the third chance they've been given."

Arwen nodded and turned away.

"Hey, little Muse," Nick said with a laugh. "Duke's looking for you so you might want to fix your make-up or he won't ask you to the dance."

"At least he'll be able to get a date," Arwen said with a smirk. "You might be able to convince a potato to act as your date."

The other three Brotherhood boys began laughing. They only laughed harder when Nick tried to give them a glare. Rose and Arwen high-fived and continued their way to class.

"Way to be back up," Nick growled.

"You set yourself up, Idiot," Pietro said bent over laughing.

"Hey, how _will _we get dates to the dance?" Fred asked.

"I already know who I'm bringing," Pietro said with a smiled.

"I believe Tip already turned you down this mornin', yo," Todd reminded him.

"Yeah," Fred said. "Didn't she say she'd rather go with an X-Geek?"

"Details," Pietro said rolling his eyes. "In the end, no one can resist my charm."

* * *

After a long morning, Arwen was slowly making her way to lunch when she heard Sam calling after her. She stopped and waited for him to catch up to her. "Hey, Sam," she said with a smile. 

"Hi, Arwen, so, um…" Sam began stumbling over his words. "Well, as you might have heard, this Friday there is going to be a dance." Arwen nodded. "And well, I was wondering, that is if no one else has, or if…"

"Yes, Sam, I'll go with you," Arwen said.

His eyes light up. "Really?"

"Of course," Arwen said.

* * *

"Zis, Alex, is vhere ve eat lunch," Kurt said to the younger Summers boy sitting down at the table he had sat at all the year before. 

"Awesome, man," Alex said taking a seat and looking around. "Quite a few babes here, I see. You got one for that dance yet, man?"

Kurt blushed. "Not yet, but I'm vorking on it," Kurt said. "But you should be vorried. After all, you're ze new kid."

"No problem, man," Alex said. "I'll have a babe in no time." Alex looked around and spotted a curvy body with long blonde hair. "Take notes, land lover, on how to get a date." Alex stood up and began walking toward the blonde. He was about three feet away when she turned around. "Tip!" Alex practically yelled.

"Alex?" Tip was just as shocked. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing, Tip," Alex said and crossed his arms. "I just moved into the Xavier institute."

"I moved here at the beginning of summer," Tip said, conveniently leaving out where she was staying as only the X-Men and Brotherhood knew she was a mutant.

Alex spoke in a flat voice. "It's good to see you again. You look good."

"You're not still bitter about that surfing contest at Maui, are you? Alex, I barely beat you, and only because that one horny judge liked my ass."

A smirk appeared on Alex's face. "You do have a nice ass." Tip's jaw dropped. "So, did you hear about this dance on Friday night?"

* * *

**Once again, PLEASE REVIEW!**


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